What Must Always Be
by IAmTheBadWolf1990
Summary: A Doomsday fix-it but not the kind you're thinking of. Sadly, this is not a reunion fic. This is my way of answering a question that Doomsday left me asking… How did Pete know to go back at the exact moment to catch Rose?
1. Deja Vu

'So, where are we headed?' asked Clara, walking down the stairs that lead to the TARDIS console room.

The Doctor looked up from the controls. 'I thought you were still asleep,' he said in way of an answer.

'I was but now I'm not, so where are we going?'

'Are you sure you're not still asleep? You could be sleepwalking. It's an unfortunate habit in you humans. Gets you into a lot of trouble. I remember this one time…'

'Doctor!' Clara cut him off. 'You're rambling. What's going on? What aren't you telling me?'

'Nothing's wrong,' he said defensively. 'Why would anything be wrong?'

Clara gave him a look, which he recognised as her I'm-not-that-stupid look and he knew it was pointless lying. With an exasperated sigh, he leant against the railing and met her gaze.

'Fine. There is something wrong.'

'You cave so easily,' said Clara. 'So, go on, spill. What's up?'

'I don't know where we are going. Either the TARDIS is choosing her own destination, or…'

'Or?'

'Or she's being controlled by an external force.'

'But that's impossible. Isn't it?'

The Doctor was silent for a moment before standing up straight again.

'I'm sure it's just the TARDIS,' he said. 'She probably just wants a holiday. She's getting on a bit, you know.'

* * *

Clara wasn't convinced and she was just about to say as much when the console room shook violently and they both fell to the floor, the sound of a loud bell echoed through the room. After a moment the shaking stopped and the TARDIS fell silent.

'Clara?' the Doctor called. 'You okay?'

'I'm alright,' she called back, picking herself up off of the floor and joining him at the console. 'What happened?'

'We've landed. But I still don't know where.' He whacked the screen with his hand and growled in frustration. 'She's not telling us anything.'

'Well, there's no use sitting around here chin-wagging,' said Clara, turning towards the doors. 'Let's go take a look.'

She was just about to grab the handle when she noticed that the Doctor hadn't followed her. She looked around and saw a familiar expression on his face. 'Clara…' he began.

'I know it could be dangerous, Doctor. And I know you have a duty of care but what else are we supposed to do? Just sit here and wait?'

'I suppose you're right,' he sighed and joined her at the doors. 'Just let me go first.'

Clara gave an "after you" gesture and he opened the door, peeking his head out first to see if the coast was clear. Once satisfied he stepped out fully, closely followed by his companion.

* * *

'So far, so good,' he said, eyeing the room in which the TARDIS had landed. It didn't seem like anything special – just a basic office really. A desk. A chair. Window. Blinds. Nothing unusual at all, except…

The Doctor moved towards the desk and picked up what appeared to be a fang.

'What is that?' asked Clara.

'It's a tooth.'

'I can see that. I mean, what species is it from? It looks pretty vicious.'

'Oh yes,' agreed the Doctor. 'The Hoix are definitely that. Combine this with its twenty pals and then add the claws and bad breath and you have one alien you do not want to meet in a back alley. I wonder what it's doing here.'

'Do you think we're at UNIT? Could they have brought us here?'

'Good thinking,' said the Doctor and Clara smiled proudly. 'But no.' Her smile faded. 'If it was UNIT, there would be soldiers waiting to greet us… or rushing in pointing guns at us. Where is everyone?'

He put the tooth down and cautiously opened the door leading to the corridor. It was just your average corridor. Fluorescent lighting and brickwork walls with pipes lining them at the top. Still, the Doctor couldn't shake the strong sense that he had been here before.

'Maybe they all popped out for lunch?' speculated Clara. 'Or maybe it's a Public Holiday.'

The Doctor didn't reply, he just continued down the hall.

* * *

After turning a couple of corners, the Doctor suddenly stopped.

'Watch it!' said Clara after literally walking into him. The Doctor ignored her complaint.

'Shh! Do you hear that?' he whispered.

'Hear what?' she whispered back, angrily.

With a move reminiscent of her first Doctor, he was on the ground with his ear pressed against the concrete.

'Sounds like a battle,' he said. 'Quite a way down, though. We must be in very tall building… or they have one hell of a basement.' He got back to his feet and wiped the dust off his hands. 'Come on; let's find out where we are. I have the strangest feeling that I've been here before.'

He continued down the corridor. Clara made to follow but stopped, catching sight of something on the floor. 'Doctor…' she called, picking up a torn newspaper.

He made his way back to her and peered over her shoulder. 'Saxon leads opinion polls,' he read. 'Oh that's very very not good.'

'I remember,' said Clara. 'At least he wasn't in power for long.'

'Longer than you realise,' muttered the Doctor, turning away. Clara was about to ask him what he meant when the building shook and she had to grab the wall for support.

'One hell of a battle,' said the Doctor. 'What's the date?' he asked.

She looked at the page in her hands. '17th of July, 2007,' she read.

'July 2007. July 2007, he repeated. 'That rings a bell. Something important happened this day.'

'Yeah, it does sound familiar,' agreed Clara. She thought for a moment before it came to her. 'Hang on,' she said. 'Wasn't that the date of the Battle of Canary Wharf?'


	2. The Worst Day

_'Wasn't that the date of the Battle of Canary Wharf?'_

The Doctor's head shot up so fast, Clara wasn't quite sure how it was still attached to his neck.

'We can't be here,' he said urgently. 'Back to the TARDIS. Quick!'

He grabbed her hand and, ignoring her complaints, started dragging her back the way they came. They were almost back to the office that housed the TARDIS when she heard the familiar sound of Cybermen marching.

'Other way,' he urged, spinning them around. Clara wasn't complaining this time. In fact, she was slightly ahead of him as they hurried down the corridor.

They rounded the corner and came face to face with another Cyberman.

'All humans are to be upgraded,' it said with its mechanical voice. 'You will be taken to the processing chamber.'

'Not today, thank you very much. Maybe next time,' said the Doctor, backing away.

'If you do not surrender, then you will be deleted,' replied the Cybermen, raising its gunned arm.

They were close enough to the stairwell door for Clara to open it. Wasting no time she pulled the Doctor through and started running up the stairs. It wasn't long before they reached the top and came face to face with yet another Cyberman. This one however was holding a different sort of gun. Even stranger was the fact that it didn't seem to want to capture or kill them.

The Doctor and Clara stared at it for a moment before the sound of their pursuers on the landing below them brought them back to the situation at hand. The strange Cyberman pushed past them and turned to face its fellow Cybermen.

'You shall not pass.'

Clara and the Doctor looked at each other in confusion.

'What is the meaning of this?' asked one of the Cybermen.

'You shall not pass.' the strange Cyberman repeated, firing its weapon. The two other Cybermen exploded under the firepower and fell to the floor.

'Well, that's different,' said the Doctor.

The Cyberman turned to him. 'You will go,' it said.

'Why did you help us?' asked Clara.

"I did not help you,' replied the Cyberman. 'I did my duty for Queen and Country.'

More Cybermen could be heard ascending the stairwell. 'We will retreat through the breach,' they were saying.

'Through the door! Quick!' shouted the Doctor.

* * *

'How are we going to get back?' asked Clara as they raced down another corridor.

'Another stairwell,' replied the Doctor.

The Cybermen seemed to have other plans, however, and soon enough the Doctor and Clara were skidding to a halt in front of three more of them and turning to run in the opposite direction, only to see more Cybermen rounding the far corner.

'In here,' said Clara, pushing the Doctor through a door. Once he was safely through, she took one last look at the approaching Cybermen and then followed her friend.

She had barely closed the door behind her when the Doctor suddenly put his hand over mouth and pulled her behind a desk. He made a "shh" gesture and removed his hand. That's when she noticed that they were not alone in the room. She peered above the desk and almost let out a gasp of surprise at who she saw.

It was the Doctor… but not the one that she had come to know. This Doctor was the one she met in Elizabethan England, the one with the great hair.

 _Of course the Doctor would have been here_ , she thought. _Who else would have made all those Cybermen disappear?_

On the other side of the room was a blonde girl whom Clara didn't recognise. She was about to ask the Doctor about her but stopped short at the way he was looking at the blonde. It was a mixture of fondness and great sadness. On any other man, Clara might have called it yearning. But the Doctor didn't yearn for people. Did he?

The younger Doctor was talking quickly.

'When it starts, just hold on tight,' he was saying to the blonde as they each headed to great big levers attached the floor. 'Shouldn't be too bad for us but the Daleks and the Cybermen are steeped in void stuff. Are you ready?'

The blonde girl nodded and turned to face the window. 'So are they,' she said.

Clara followed her gaze and saw four Daleks flying towards them.

'Let's do it!' cried the younger Doctor just as the older one grabbed her and pulled her further below the desk.

Clara didn't know what the younger Doctor and the blonde girl were doing but she heard a computer's voice say 'Systems online,' and suddenly the Daleks were hurtling out of control through the window and straight over her head.

The howling wind was deafening and soon the cries of Daleks and Cybermen joined it as they all flew through the room.

'The breach is open! Into the void! Ha!' she heard the younger Doctor yell.

'What's happening?' she asked her Doctor, shouting a little to be heard over the noise.

'They opened the void,' he explained. 'The Daleks and Cybermen are being sucked into it.'

'What's keeping us safe?'

'Only things which have travelled through the void are being sucked through, except for the TARDIS of course. She has defence mechanisms for this sort of thing.'

Clara nodded her understanding and peered around the desk. She could see the younger Doctor holding on to some sort of clamp on the wall. Despite his situation, he was smiling. Laughing even. Clara peered over the top of the desk and saw that the blonde girl wore a similar triumphant expression.

'The void is trying to pull him in too. Why not you?' she asked the older Doctor. 'You're the same man.'

'New body means a clean slate,' said the Doctor. 'This body has never been through the void.'

Another Dalek came crashing through the room, missing Clara by inches, and hit one of the levers before continuing into the open void. The lever sparked and began to descend back towards the floor.

'Offline,' said the computer as the stream of Daleks flying into the void slowed down.

The Doctor was looking at the blonde again and made a move to get up but Clara put her hand on his arm to stop him.

'Should we interfere?' she asked, knowing full well that the answer was no. Intervention in one's own timeline could have disastrous consequences. He had told her as much when she had tried to make him save Danny.

The Doctor looked like he wanted to argue but he knelt back down behind the desk.

'You're right,' he said but Clara could tell how much he wanted her to be wrong. She kept a hold of his arm. She had a feeling that this was not going to end well for him - either of him.

* * *

The Doctor watched as one of the worst days of his life unfolded in front of him. Rose Tyler, his Rose, was reaching for the fallen lever.

He flinched as she let go of the clamp that was keeping her safe and grabbed hold of the lever instead.

'I've got to get it upright,' she said, using all her strength to try and push it back up. The Doctor wanted desperately to help her. To hold her steady until the void collapsed into itself and she was safe on this side of it where she belonged but he knew he couldn't. Clara was right. They couldn't interfere. Changing this moment would change everything.

* * *

Rose had gotten the lever back to its upright position.

'Online and locked,' said the computer and the void was open once more. The last of the Daleks flew by but nobody paid them any attention. All eyes were on the blonde woman hanging on to the lever for dear life.

'Hold on!' yelled the younger Doctor, making a futile attempt to reach for her.

Clara's grip on the Doctor's arm tightened as she watched the blonde girl's fingers start to slip. And then, with an agonising scream, the blonde lost her grip and started to fall into the void.

'ROSE!' yelled the younger Doctor, his screams combining with hers.

Clara stifled a gasp at the audible pain. She heard the Doctor muttering under his breath beside her.

'Any second now,' he was saying. 'Any second now.'

Clara continued to look on in horror at the scene in front of her. Rose was twirling towards the void and the Doctor was screaming until, after what felt like a lifetime, Rose disappeared into the void and it closed in on itself.


	3. A Moment That Can't Be Changed

'Systems closed.'

The younger Doctor let go of his clamp and ran towards the wall.

'NO! ROSE!' he cried, slamming his fist against it. 'GIVE HER BACK TO ME! GIVE HER BACK!'

Tears began to form in his eyes as he slid down to the floor.

'I'm so sorry, Doctor' whispered Clara, fighting back tears of her own.

'No,' growled the Doctor.

'What?'

'No!' This time he was practically shouting. He got up from their hiding position and walked purposefully across the room. He stopped a couple of paces before the wall and turned on the spot.

'Right here,' he said, gesturing to the air in front of him. 'He was supposed to be RIGHT HERE! Where is he? Why didn't he catch her?'

The younger Doctor looked up at the older one. 'Who are you?' he asked. 'What are you talk… Oh.'

Realisation dawned on his face but realisation quickly turned to anger. He stood up and faced his other self. Then, without warning, he punched him in the face.

The older Doctor reeled from the punch. 'What was that for?' he cried.

'You were here and you didn't do anything. YOU COULD HAVE SAVED HER!'

'She didn't need to be saved,' said the older Doctor and he ducked out of the way of the next punch his younger self threw at him. 'What I mean is that it wasn't supposed to happen like this. Pete was supposed to appear and catch her.'

'How the hell was he supposed to do that? He's in another dimension! How did he know where and when he needed to appear?'

'He…' The Doctor faltered. 'I don't know. You're right. How could he have known? He would have had to have known the future…'

'It doesn't matter because I'm going back,' said the younger Doctor. 'Web of Time be damned.'

'Yes. We have to go back,' agreed the older one. 'We have to fix this.'

He strode over to the desk that Clara was still standing behind and grabbed the yellow-buttoned device that was on it. It was the Dimension Hopper that Rose had left.

'This is Clara, by the way,' he said in way of introduction.

'Hi,' said Clara. She still wasn't sure what was happening.

The younger Doctor didn't acknowledge the greeting; he just kept walking towards the door.

'Where do you think you're going?' asked the older Doctor.

'To save Rose.'

'Well, that's what I'm doing so you'd better stick with me. I might need you.'

'And what exactly is your plan?' asked the younger Doctor, turning back to face his older self. 'Go back and tell Pete when and where he needs to be so that he can jump in at the last minute and catch Rose?'

'Pretty much.'

'And then he'll take her back to his parallel world which will then be closed off forever?'

The older Doctor continued to fiddle with the device in his hand. 'Yes,' he said.

'That's not good enough,' growled the younger Time Lord, turning to walk out the door.

'At least she will be alive,' said the older Doctor.

His younger self rounded on him, fury in his eyes. 'BUT SHE WONT BE WITH ME!' he yelled.

'Doctor,' said Clara softly. 'You need to calm down.'

'CALM DOWN?' he roared. 'I just watched the woman I love get sucked into hell and you're telling me to calm down?'

'Oh so now you say it,' muttered the older Doctor before raising his voice. 'Listen, Clara's right. There are certain things that can't be changed and Rose Tyler ending up in a parallel universe is one of them. If she doesn't then she won't be able to warn us about the stars going out.'

'So what?' growled his younger self. 'Stars die all the time. Not exactly newsworthy.'

'Don't be an idiot. They don't just die; they get wiped out of existence. All of them! Without Rose's warning, everything ends. Everything except the Daleks.'

'Doctor,' warned Clara. 'Are you sure you should be telling him this?'

'It's all right. If we fix the timelines, he won't remember any of this. And if we don't fix it… well, then nothing really matters.' He turned back to his younger self. 'I don't like it any more than you do, but this is the day you lose her.'

'Time can be rewritten,' insisted the younger Doctor.

'Not this time. I wish it could.'

They stared at each other for a moment until the younger Doctor sighed and joined his older self at the desk. 'What do you need me to do?'

'Give me your sonic screwdriver.'


	4. Differences

After spending some time tinkering with the Dimension Hopper, the two Doctors and Clara were walking down the corridor, heading back to the TARDIS.

'So let me get this straight,' Clara began. 'You are going to go back in time and use this Dimension Hopper thing,' she gestured to the device in the older Doctor's hand, 'to go tell some guy to come back and save Rose?'

'That pretty much sums it up,' said the eldest Doctor.

'And he's not just some guy,' added the younger one. 'He's Rose's Dad. Well, sort of.'

'What do you mean "sort of"?' asked Clara as they entered the stairwell.

'Parallel world. Parallel Pete,' explained the older Doctor. 'Rose's real Dad died when she was a baby.'

Upon entering the stairwell, they were greeted with the remains of a Cyberman, a familiar gun lying next to it.

'It must be the one who helped us,' said Clara.

The younger Doctor looked at her in confusion. 'You were helped by a Cyberman?'

'Yeah. It said it was doing its duty for Queen and Country. But why didn't it get sucked back into the void?'

'Because it never passed through the void,' said the older Doctor. 'This must be one of the ones who got processed this side. The Torchwood staff.'

'So there might be more?'

As soon as the words had left Clara's mouth, the sound of Cybermen voices carried up the stairwell.

'We must investigate the breach,' one was saying. 'There has been interference.'

The two Cybermen stopped as they reached the next landing and noticed the people standing above them. There were no words wasted on ultimatums this time. They both raised their gunned arms and pointed them at the trio.

'Delete.' The mechanical voices seemed to echo in the confined space.

'Out the way!' yelled the younger Doctor, pushing past Clara. He had a massive gun in his hand.

Without hesitation, he fired. The two Cybermen were blasted to bits and the two Doctors and Clara had to duck to avoid the shrapnel.

'You killed them,' said Clara.

'They were going to stop us from saving Rose,' said the Doctor simply and he carried on down the stairwell. 'Careful of the mess,' he called back up to his companions.

'We need to watch him,' said the older Doctor. 'This me had a surprising amount of darkness in him.'

'Do you think he's going to try something?' asked Clara.

'To save Rose, he'd try anything.'

* * *

The two Doctors and Clara entered the TARDIS.

'Anything to say about the redecorations?' asked the older Doctor, looking at his younger self expectantly.

'No,' replied the other Doctor, sitting the gun down on the floor. 'Don't we have something we should be getting on with?'

'Yes. Right. All we have to do is link the Dimension Hopper up to the TARDIS and we are good to go.'

'Are you sure this will work?' asked Clara.

'Clara, Clara, Clara. Of course I'm sure.' He could tell she wasn't convinced but he wasn't about to discuss it. He didn't want to find out how far she would go to save him. It had become increasingly obvious that she wasn't ready for him to go yet, and it scared him. _Oh, Clara_ , he thought. _What have I made of you?_

'I still think it should be me to go and talk to Pete,' said the younger Doctor, disrupting his thoughts. 'He trusts me. He's never even seen you before and he doesn't know about regeneration. He won't believe you.'

'Maybe he's right,' said Clara. 'After all, he's already been through the void, why put yourself at risk when you don't have to?'

'Because I don't trust him,' answered the Doctor before turning to his younger self. 'Now, why don't you do something useful and find me something to hook the Dimension Hopper up to the TARDIS with.'

The younger Doctor glared at his older self before finally turning away and heading deeper into the TARDIS.

* * *

Clara waited until she was sure the younger Doctor was out of earshot before she rounded on the older one.

'So are you going to admit it then?' she asked.

'Admit what?' he replied, distractedly. He was once again fiddling with the Dimension Hopper.

'That you're a great big hypocrite.'

The Doctor looked up at her in confusion. 'What do you mean?'

'All that talk about not changing the past because of your rules.'

The Doctor put the Dimension Hopper down and stood up straight, putting his hands in his pockets. 'I assume you're referring to PE.'

'You said you couldn't save him.'

'This is different.'

'Oh, is it?' Clara's voice cracked slightly as her anger flared. 'Because from where I'm standing, it looks exactly the same. Except that you get to go back and save the one you love but the one _I_ love has to stay dead and buried. How is that fair?'

'I said it was different. I never said it was fair.' When she didn't respond, he continued. 'I'm sorry I couldn't save Danny but it would have caused a paradox. You knew that otherwise you wouldn't have gone to such extreme measures to convince me.'

Clara flinched a little at the reminder. Threatening the Doctor like that had been one of the lowest things she had ever done but she had been so desperate to save Danny. She didn't handle losing people well, she had lost too many already.

The Doctor carried on, oblivious to her internal musings. 'But this… this was never supposed to happen. Rose Tyler was not supposed to die today. If she does, then Donna will never get her warning about the stars going out. Davros will activate his Reality Bomb and no one will be there to stop it. And the Daleks finally achieve their goal of becoming the supreme pepper pots of the universe. So, yes, it is different.'

'You know, for all your grand speeches, you're forgetting one thing.' Clara's voice didn't waver this time.

'What's that?'

'I know you. And I know that right now you don't give a damn about fixing the timelines. That's just a consolation prize. Because I understand about the dangers of paradoxes, Doctor, I really do… but deep down, you're doing this for the exact same reason I threw those TARDIS keys into a volcano. You can't bare the thought of her dying.' The Doctor didn't reply. 'I'm right, aren't I?'

The Doctor was silent for a minute before finally replying. 'Do you know what the void is?' Clara shook her head. 'He,' the Doctor gestured towards the door which his younger self had exited from, 'called it hell and he's not wrong. The void is nothing. No up. No down. No life. No _time_ … I can't leave her there. I…'

The younger Doctor chose that moment to return to the console room. The older Doctor hurriedly hid his face by focusing on the Dimension Hopper in his hand.

'Here,' said the younger Doctor, holding out what looked like car jump leads. 'This should do.'

* * *

The Doctor tried to give Clara a scientific explanation of what he was doing but she tuned him out after the first sentence. She understood the purpose of it and that was good enough for her. Linking the device to the TARDIS would ensure that the Doctor ended up here when he came back rather than right in front of the breach. If it worked properly, that is.

The TARDIS made a "ding" sound and the Doctor disconnected the Dimension Hopper and put it around his neck.

'Time to go,' he said and he set the coordinates. 'An hour and a half should do it.'

With a familiar wheezing noise, the TARDIS left the Torchwood office and materialized in an alley across the street, an hour and a half beforehand.

'Time and date is right,' said the Doctor, 'and we seem to be in the right place.'

He pulled the scanner so that it was directly in front of him and turned it on.

'Ah… well, we are still technically in the right place.'

'You landed us in the street outside!' exclaimed the younger Doctor. 'How are you supposed to get to the top floor? There's a battle going on out there.'

'Exactly. The Daleks and Cybermen will be too distracted. I'll be able to slip right past them.'

'Doctor…' Clara began but he cut her off.

'I'll be fine, Clara,' he said. 'Promise.'

There was so much Clara wanted to say. She wanted to tell him not go but she knew it was pointless. She wanted to tell him to make sure he comes back but she knew what his reply would be. So she just settled with 'Good luck' and gave him a quick hug that he half returned. She'd turn him into a hugging person yet.

The Doctor turned his head to whisper in her ear. 'Watch him,' he said before pulling away. 'Off I go.' He headed towards the door.

'How are you going to convince Pete of who you are?' asked the younger Doctor.

'I don't have to,' he said. 'I just have to convince Jackie.'

He gave Clara one last reassuring smile that didn't quite reach his eyes and exited the TARDIS.


	5. Through the Battle

The Doctor could see the Torchwood Tower, aka Canary Warf, across the street. All he had to do was cross the road, get to the top floor and activate the Dimension Hopper. It would be all too simple if it wasn't for all the Cybermen and Daleks in the way.

He made his way to the street but stopped suddenly when he heard the approaching Cybermen. He quickly pressed himself against the wall and waited for them to pass.

Cautiously, he stepped out into the street. There were a few Cybermen around but none terribly close. He managed to cross the road quite easily and was almost at the door when he heard a mechanical voice behind him.

'All humans will be upgraded,' it said.

The Doctor started to put his hands up but didn't turn around. 'I surrender,' he said but then quickly dived through the door. Once through, he ducked as the Cyberman followed him and began shooting. He ran zig-zag across the room and barrelled through a set of double doors. He passed through a couple more doors, the Cyberman hot on his heels, before he reached the room he was aiming for.

The room was chaos. The Daleks were shooting their way across the room, the Genesis Ark transported safely between them. The Cybermen weren't letting them pass without a fight but one by one they were crumbling under the Dalek firepower. As were the human soldiers.

The Doctor ducked behind some crates at the side of the room and waited for his pursuer to appear. He didn't have to wait long. The Cybermen entered the room shouting its usual chorus of 'Delete!'

It had been in the room a total of 4.7 seconds before its head was blasted off by a Dalek's energy bolt.

The Doctor gave a triumphant smile before edging his way along the wall. With any luck, everybody would be all too distracted to notice him.

He was almost at the door when it opened. He stopped and stayed low to the ground as he watched his younger self crawl across the floor and collect the Magna-Clamps. At the door, he could just see Rose's head peeking through. She was silently mouthing words of encouragement. The Doctor smiled a little at the thought but was quickly brought back to reality when he saw his younger self heading back. He backed up a little along the wall to stop himself from being seen.

He had to wait a bit longer as the younger Doctor's head appeared once more. This time he was wearing a pair of 3D glasses. Rose and Pete poked their heads through the door as well, taking in the scene.

The Daleks opened the roof and elevated themselves and the Genesis ark through the opening.

'What they doing?' asked Rose. 'Why do they need to get outside?'

The younger Doctor ignored her question, instead asking one of his own. 'Time Lord science. What Time Lord science? What is it?'

Once his younger self had once again backed out of the door, the Doctor quietly followed suit. He stepped into the corridor just in time to hear Jake calling out to his friends.

'We could always take the lift,' he said.

His younger self and his companions were too focussed on their task to see him hiding in the shadows as they all raced for the lift and got inside.

The Doctor, deciding that he was too old to tackle 45 floors worth of stairs ran the other way down the corridor to a second lift.

* * *

Meanwhile, in the TARDIS, the other Doctor was pacing around the console.

'Is that something that all your regenerations do?' asked Clara. 'Pace around the TARDIS when you're anxious?'

'I'm not anxious,' replied the Doctor. 'Just thinking?'

'Do I dare ask what about?'

He suddenly stopped and turned to her. 'You seem to know him – me – very well.'

'Yeah, I suppose I do.'

'Then tell me… Do I ever talk about her? He said she came back. Did he ever mention what happened next?'

Clara paused. She wasn't sure what she should tell him. In the end, she settled for the truth. She just wouldn't mention certain details such as him getting married to River.

'You don't mention her much,' she said. 'And I think I've only heard her name once or twice. You always seem to find some way to change the subject.'

'So you don't know how much more time I will get with her, if any?'

'Sorry.'

The Doctor just nodded as if the answer had confirmed something he already thought was true.

'I'm getting a bit hungry,' he said. 'Can you show me where the TARDIS has moved the kitchen?'

'Sure,' said Clara, getting up. 'I could use a cuppa myself.'

Clara led the way out of the console room, heading towards the kitchen. 'Nothing like a cup of tea to help with a terrible day,' she said but got no reply. She turned around to see the Doctor still standing in the console room just before the door. He was wearing a familiar pair of sunglasses.

'I'm sorry,' he said before touching a button on the side of the one of the lenses.

Clara ran for the door but it was too late. The Doctor had locked it.

'Doctor! Let me out!' she yelled.

'I'm sorry,' he yelled back, 'but I can't lose her. Not again.'

Clara banged her fist against the door but she knew it wouldn't do any good. The Doctor was already gone.

* * *

The older Doctor exited the lift a couple of floors below his destination. It would be much safer to take the stairs for the last few floors. Less chance of being seen that way. He made sure to take the opposite stairwell to the one he had taken with Clara.

Once he was on the top floor, he moved a lot more carefully. He stopped before rounding the corner that would take him to where he needed to be. He cautiously peered around it. He could just about see two of Pete's people through the door. He couldn't wait for them to move so he risked moving slowly along the wall until he was outside the door.

'I'm supposed to go,' he heard Rose say. 'To another world and then it gets sealed off… forever'. He closed his eyes and tried not to remember her face but it came to him nonetheless. He could see the hurt in her eyes but there was something else there too…

'That's not gonna to happen.'

Stubbornness. Stubbornness and determination to stay with him – to make a difference. She wasn't going to let herself be sent away again, not without a fight. The Doctor opened his eyes and smiled. That was his Rose, he really should have known better than to try and trick her a second time.

Suddenly a tremor rocked the building and he gripped the wall for support. He heard Pete giving directions from inside the room.

'We haven't got time to argue. The plan works, we're going. You too, all of us.'

'No, I'm not leaving him,' yelled Rose.

'I'm not going without her,' said Jackie.

'Oh my God, we're going!' yelled Pete.

'I've had twenty years without you so button it. I'm not leaving her!'

The Doctor felt an enormous sense of pride for Jackie. He never told her, but he always admired how she managed to bring Rose up on her own. And right now she was turning down the chance of a life of riches with her husband to face down an army of Cybermen and Daleks with her daughter.

But of course, Rose was having none of that.

'But you've got to,' she told her mother.

Pete's people had moved away from the door and the Doctor peered around it.

'Mum, I've had a life with you for nineteen years,' Rose continued, 'but then I met the Doctor. And all the things I've seen him do for me – for you – for all of us. For the whole _stupid_ planet and every planet out there. He does it alone, Mum.'

The Doctor watched as his younger self pulled the Dimension Hopper out of his pocket.

'But not anymore…'

Rose stepped away from Jackie.

'Cause now he's got me.'

The Doctor put the device over Rose's head and Pete pressed a button. Everyone disappeared, all but the two Doctors.

* * *

The younger Doctor ran out of the alley and quickly had to dive to the ground. The Daleks had opened the Genesis Ark and now there were millions of them. Luckily for the Doctor, their focus seemed to be on the Cybermen, unlucky for the Doctor, the Cybermen seemed to be converging at Torchwood and the street had become a battleground.

He ran for cover behind a car as another Dalek energy bolt missed him by inches. Another shot, this one from a Cyberman, hit a car nearby causing it to explode. The force of the blast sent the Doctor to the ground, the stolen sonic sunglasses flying off his head and under the car. He quickly picked himself up and made a dash for the next car.

* * *

Clara looked up at the ceiling. 'Come on,' she said. 'Let me out.' It could take her days to find another pair of sonic sunglasses so asking the TARDIS to open the door for her was her best option.

"Listen, I know you have not exactly warmed up to me but this is bigger than that. He's risking the universe to save her.'

An image appeared in Clara's mind. It was an image of her holding out a TARDIS key.

 _I don't care about the rules. I don't give a damn about paradoxes. Save Danny, bring him back, or I swear you will never step inside your TARDIS again_.

'Yes, I know!' she yelled. "I know I'm being a hypocrite but that doesn't make me any less right! The Doctor can't save Rose just like I couldn't save Danny.'

There was a pause before Clara heard the click of the lock and the door slid open. She looked up to the ceiling. 'Thank you,' she said and ran after the Doctor.

* * *

The older Doctor was still peering around the doorway, watching the spot where Rose had disappeared. Any second now she would reappear and then it would be time for him to go.

The familiar sound of the Dimension Hopper filled the room and Rose reappeared. The Doctor was about to push the button on his own Dimension Hopper (though technically it was the same one Rose was wearing) but paused, his finger hovering over the button. He knew what was coming next and he needed to hear her say it one last time.

'Once the breach collapses, that's it!' yelled his younger self, grabbing Rose by the arms. 'You will never be able to see her again, your own mother!'

'I made my choice a long time ago and I'm never gonna leave you,' said Rose, defiantly.

A thousand years on and the Doctor still didn't know what he had done to deserve such loyalty. He closed his eyes and brought his finger down on the button.


	6. Fixing the Web

The Doctor opened his eyes and looked around the doorway again. The room was darker and instead of seeing his former self and Rose, he saw a crying Jackie. Pete was trying to comfort her but she shoved him away.

'Get off me,' she said.

'Don't cry, Jackie,' said the Doctor, walking into the room. 'You're going to see Rose again because Pete here is going to go and bring her back.'

Jackie stopped crying and looked at him in confusion.

'Who the hell are you?' demanded Pete.

'I'm the man who is trying very hard not to punch you in the face right now.'

'Me? What did I do?'

'Nothing, that's what! You were supposed to catch her but you didn't.'

'She's dead?' whispered Jackie. She looked like she was either going to go into shock or kill everyone in the room but hadn't decided which one yet.

'Not yet she isn't,' said the Doctor and Jackie gave a sigh of relief, 'and I'm not going to let it happen. Its not _meant_ to happen.'

'I don't understand,' said Pete. 'Who are you? Why should we believe you?'

'Because he's the Doctor,' said Mickey.

 _Not so much of an idiot anymore_ , the Doctor thought.

'No he's not,' argued Pete. 'He's Scottish.'

'I _am_ the Doctor,' growled the Doctor, advancing on Pete. 'I'm the Doctor who has just watched Rose Tyler fall into hell, so _you_ ,' he grabbed Pete by the shoulders and guided him to a spot a few paces before the wall, 'are going to stand here, shut up, and listen.'

'I'd do as he says, boss.'

* * *

Clara ran out of the alley and ducked behind a car to avoid all the stray energy bolts whizzing through the air. She was just about to move on when something caught her eye. She reached under the car and pulled out the Doctor's Sonic Sunglasses. She peered around the car and saw the Doctor on the other side of the street, heading towards the door of the building.

Taking a deep breath, she sprinted from her hiding spot, keeping her head down. To her great surprise and relief, she made it to the other side. The Doctor hadn't seen her yet so she managed to get the jump on him and pushed him up against the wall.

'What the hell do you think you're playing at?' she hissed.

'You know what I'm doing,' said the Doctor, pushing Clara away. 'I'm saving Rose.'

'What about everyone else in the universe? Who is going to save them from the paradox you're going to create?'

'We'll think of something.'

'How?' Clara asked.

'I don't know but we will. Together!'

'Look, I get it, I really do. I've tried to save people I love too but the Doctor stopped me. _You_ stopped me. Because you knew it couldn't be done. There are some things even you can't change.'

The Doctor leaned in so they were eye to eye. 'There is nothing I can't change,' he said, his voice dangerously low. 'There's no one left to stop me anymore. They all burnt. I have lost so much but I will not lose Rose.' He leaned back and started to walk towards the door.

'You can't!' yelled Clara and he spun back around to face her, his eyes blazing. She had never seen him look so dangerous.

 _There's a slither of ice in his heart._

'I can do anything,' he said. 'The laws of time are mine AND THEY WILL OBEY ME!'

Clara wanted to run at him and slap him until he saw sense but she was rooted to the spot. She had seen the Doctor at his lowest but this was something else. He looked so sure of himself. So sure that he could bend time to his will.

But that was only part of the reason she couldn't move. The other was that the Doctor's outburst had drawn the attention of a Dalek and it was hovering in the air behind him.

'EXTERMINATE!' cried the Dalek and the Doctor barely had enough time to turn around before the energy bolt hit him. His body glowed bright blue for a moment before he fell to the ground. A familiar gold energy started to engulf his features.

The Dalek pointed its gun at Clara. She was about to make a run for it when a whooshing sound filled the air and the Dalek flew backwards towards the top floor of the building

Clara looked up as all the Cybermen and Daleks were pulled into the void. She looked over at the Doctor. The golden glow had disappeared and a new man lay on the street but it wasn't the face Clara was expecting. Instead of the young man with floppy hair and no eyebrows, the Doctor now looked older. Maybe not quite as old as her current Doctor but he wasn't far off. He had dark, greying hair and, even in unconscious form, a stern face.

But Clara didn't have time to ponder this; she had to get back to the TARDIS. The Doctor would be back soon and she wanted to make sure everything went according to plan. Which, knowing the Doctor, was unlikely.

* * *

'Are you ready?' asked the Doctor, looking at his watch.

'I think so,' replied Pete.

'Good man. Now remember, when you appear on the other side you will be right in front of the open void and you will have precisely four seconds before it starts pulling you in so you don't waste any time. Rose will already have let go of the lever so be ready to catch her as soon as you see her.'

Pete nodded and turned to Jackie 'I'll bring her back, Jax.'

Jackie walked up to him and kissed her not-quite-husband. 'Thank you,' she whispered before looking to the Doctor, who had backed up towards the wall. 'I thought you had rules about this sort of thing? Changing things and all that.'

The Doctor shrugged. 'This was always meant to happen. It just took me a long time to figure it out.'

Jackie gave him a knowing look. If this new Doctor was anything like the last two, she knew full well why he was doing this. She was just about to tell him as much when the Doctor's watch started beeping. 'It's time,' he said. 'Stand back everyone.'

* * *

 _\- Rose's fingers started to slip._

 _\- She screamed as she lost her grip and started to fall into the void._

 _\- 'ROSE!' cried the Doctor and he started screaming too._

 _\- Rose twirled towards the void until, suddenly, Pete appeared out of nowhere and caught her._

 _\- The screaming stopped and she turned to look at the Doctor._

 _\- Pete pressed a button on the device in his hand and he and Rose disappeared._

 _\- The two people hiding behind the desk and the unconscious man lying in the street outside faded out of existence._

* * *

Rose pushed away from Pete as she found herself, once again, in the other universe.

'How did you…' she began but trailed off when she saw the grey haired man standing by the wall. He had a Dimension Hopper in his hand.

She knew it was him. He may have a different face but those big sad eyes remained the same. Eyes that, at the present moment, were focussed solely on her.

'Doctor?'

'I'm sorry,' was all he said and he activated his Dimension Hopper.

No!' she yelled as she ran towards him. 'Take me back!'

But it was too late. Her hand flew through the air, where the Doctor had stood a second ago, and hit the white wall behind it.

'Take me back!' she cried again, slamming her hand against the wall repeatedly. 'Take me back!'


	7. Always Fine

The Doctor reappeared back in his original universe but he could still see Rose in his mind, running towards him, begging him to take her with him. He had not expected her to recognise him but he should have known better. Rose always saw right through him.

He was so lost in his thoughts that he didn't realise that he wasn't in the TARDIS but rather just outside it.

It wasn't until he felt the pull of the void before he realised something had gone wrong.

He made a grab for the TARDIS door but the pull was too strong for him to reach it and his feet left the ground.

A hand grabbed his wrist and he looked up to see Clara leaning out of the TARDIS, her other hand gripping the doorframe.

* * *

It was only a few moments before the void's pull weakened and the Doctor fell painfully to the ground. Clara knelt down beside him as he pushed himself up into a sitting position and put his head in his hands.

'Did you fix it?' she asked.

The Doctor nodded and lifted his head out of his hands. 'Rose is safe in the parallel universe and this one has righted itself. Its probably the reason I came back a minute before I was meant to… some sort of time slip. Lucky you were here otherwise the void would have pulled me in.'

'Are you okay?' she asked.

He tried to give her a reassuring smile. 'I'm fine,' he said.

'Liar.'

They lapsed into silence, each lost in their own thoughts. It was the Doctor who spoke first.

'I almost brought her back,' he said, not looking at Clara. 'I adjusted the Dimension Hopper back in the TARDIS so it could carry two people.'

Clara didn't know what to say. She had been so focussed on stopping the other Doctor from breaking the laws of time, she never considered that this Doctor might do the same.

'She recognised me,' he continued. 'She has never seen this face before but she knew it was me. All I had to do was take her hand and would have had her back. And I almost did it. I almost risked the universe.'

'You did the right thing,' said Clara, putting a hand on the Doctor's shoulder.

'I know,' he said, 'and Rose will understand.' He got up and held out his hand for Clara. She took it and he pulled her to her feet. 'Come on,' he said, 'let's get you home.'

* * *

Once inside the TARDIS, the Doctor set the coordinates for Clara's apartment and continued to press more buttons that Clara knew didn't actually do anything. He was trying to seem busy so he didn't have to talk but there was something she wanted to ask him about.

'Doctor…' she began. 'About your other self, the one who saw Rose die.'

'Oh I wouldn't worry about him,' said the Doctor, not looking up. 'He doesn't exist anymore. Not now that the timelines have sorted themselves out again.'

'He regenerated.'

The Doctor stopped pressing buttons and looked up at her. 'Really?' he asked. 'What happened?'

'You got shot by a Dalek.'

'Huh… now that's a coincidence…'

'He didn't look like you, though. I thought he would change into the you I first met but he didn't.'

'He must have changed into the man I would've been if I hadn't channelled the excess regeneration energy into my other hand. I always wondered what I might have looked like.'

It took Clara a moment to understand what he was saying. She vaguely remembered him saying that his tenth self had had "vanity issues". She also remembered him telling her about Donna and how she had created a human clone of him. He never said what happened to the clone. That was one of those stories he never finished or elaborated on.

'You had eyebrows this time,' she said. 'Though not quite as… prominent as your current ones.'

He smiled a little at that and she knew he would be okay eventually.

* * *

The TARDIS landed and Clara stepped into her flat. 'Are you sure you don't want me to stay with you a while?' she asked.

'I'm two thousand years old, Clara,' he said. 'I don't need babysitting.'

'Everyone needs someone sometimes.'

He gave her a small smile. "I'll be fine. I promise. Now, you had better get ready. School starts in about twenty minutes.'

Clara looked at the clock. 'Really? You couldn't have given me a few hours?' she asked but when she turned back to face him he had already retreated back into the TARDIS and closed the door. The noise of the TARDIS engines filled Clara's flat and she watched as the blue box faded away.

He would be fine, she assured herself. He was always fine.

* * *

The Doctor wandered the TARDIS corridors. He needed to find a new set of sonic sunglasses; he had found the old ones on the console, scratched somehow.

He opened a door he thought lead to his workroom but stopped short at the sight in front of him. It was Rose's old room. He must have absentmindedly took a wrong turn. Or maybe the TARDIS was just tormenting him.

He looked around the room. It looked exactly how she'd left it: a mess.

His eyes rested on her dressing table where a few photo frames stood. There was one of her and her mum. They were both smiling at the camera with drinks in their hands. Rose was wearing a sash that said "Happy 18th Birthday".

The next photo was of him, Rose, Jackie and Mickey. It was taken the week after he regenerated. It was New Years and Jackie had insisted on a "family" photo. He never said how much it meant to him to be included in such a thing.

He was smiling in the picture but not at the camera. His eyes were fixed on Rose who was laughing at they face Mickey was making. Jackie was rolling her eyes at the lot of them. He knew there was another photo somewhere, one they did properly with everybody smiling at the camera but Rose always preferred this one and he secretly did too.

There was one more picture. This one was a quick selfie that Rose had taken of them when they got all dressed up to see Elvis. He had his arm around her and she was leaning her head into the crook of his neck.

The Doctor smiled at the memory. She had looked so beautiful that day that he had almost lost his resolve then and there. But he, in all his stupid Time Lord wisdom, had decided that they could never be anything more than what they were.

Still, she got what she wanted in the end: a life with him... sort of. It was better this way, he told himself. She could have the life she deserved. A house, a husband, a family… and still save the world every other week.

The Doctor closed the door. 'I hope she's happy,' he whispered to his empty TARDIS.


	8. Epilogue

Once upon a time the Pandorica opened, a TARDIS exploded, and the universe cracked. Through some of these cracks there was nothing but silence. Through others there were other worlds, other universes. It was through one of these cracks that the figure emerged from.

The man wore a blue suit so dark that it almost looked black. He had dark, slicked back hair and stubble on his chin.

He licked his finger and held it in the air. He nodded to himself as if he had just confirmed something.

If someone from UNIT saw him, they would assume he was the Time Lord known as "the Doctor", but they would be wrong. His singular heart proved that. Anyone else would assume he was human but they would be wrong too.

In reality, he was both and yet he was neither. He was a meta-crisis - a hybrid.

He was the Valeyard and he was going to take back the life that was stolen from him.


End file.
